The past two weeks has seen Surrey announce the signings of seven players for the Tier One professional women’s team from 2025.
Kira Chathli, Dani Gregory and Bryony Smith have signed full-time professional contracts with the club they have played for since childhood. With Paige Scholfield, Alice Davidson-Richards, Alexa Stonhouse and Tilly Corteen-Coleman also joining the new fully professional side for 2025.
We asked all seven of them for some interesting facts about themselves.
Bryony Smith – who has been named as the Surrey captain from 2025, hails from south London. Her first cricket club was Wallington CC and she says that Northern Diamonds’ Katie Levick is the toughest bowler to face on the domestic circuit. Her favourite ground is of course, The Kia Oval. But, her favourite ground to visit is Lord’s.
Alice Davidson-Richards has joined the new fully professional side from 2025. ADR – as she’s more commonly known as, scored a century on her England Test match debut against South Africa at Taunton in 2022. Her favourite away ground is Headingley – where she plays for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred. Her surprising fact was that she doesn’t like eating cake.
16-year-old left arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman has signed her first professional contract with Surrey. Her cricketing hero is England’s left arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone. When quizzed on her dream slip cordon, she decided Mary Earps (England goalkeeper) would be the wicketkeeper, with American comedian Kevin Hart at first, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey at second with Stars captain Bryony Smith at third slip.
Wicketkeeper batter Kira Chathli has signed her first fully professional contract with her childhood club. Kira has played for Surrey since the age of nine and made her Surrey debut at the age of 14. Kira’s interesting fact is that she is a vegetarian, and her favourite away ground is Lord’s. She would like to see red ball multi-day cricket introduced into the women’s domestic game.
Leg spin bowler Dani Gregory has also signed for her childhood club. Gregory – who was the Stars top wicket taker in 2023, has played for Surrey since U12’s! Both Dani and Bryony have played through the Surrey age groups together. Dani – who’s first cricket club was Rowledge CC in Surrey, worked with the men’s analyst department in 2022. Dani would also like to see more red ball cricket in the women’s domestic game. A cricket lover, Dani said her dream slip cordon would be Ben Foakes, Ben Stokes, Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne.
Paige Scholfield has had a huge impact on the South East Stars since joining ahead of the 2023 season. Born in Durban, South Africa – Paige’s first club was Bells Yew Green CC in Tunbridge Wells. Her favourite performance was her 111 not out on South East Stars debut at Thunder in 2023. Her fantasy slip cordon to spend a day in the field with would be Carla Rudd as wicketkeeper, Tash Farrant at first and Kirstie White at second.
All-rounder Alexa Stonehouse joins the Three Feathers after two brilliant seasons with the Stars. Stonehouse, who has impressed many with her performances in the yellow of South East Stars and Trent Rockets, says former Rockets teammate Katherine Sciver-Brunt is the fellow professional that has had the biggest impact on her career. Her favourite away ground is her Rockets home – Trent Bridge. She feels that Central Sparks’ Davina Perrin is the most talented teenager in the country. The pair played together for England U19’s. Her fantasy slip cordon would be Sarah Taylor (wk), Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Mr Tickle.
